Difference Between Civil and Public Service

You must be thinking that what is the Difference Between Civil and Public Service. You frequently think that Civil and Public service is a common term but actually there is a lot of differences. What are these differences between Civil and Public Service? In this article, you are going to learn about the major differences between these two terms. I will also give a complete comparison of both civil and public service so that you may understand it better. So, here is the brief introduction and comparison of Civil and Public service that everyone should know.

Table of Contents HIDE

1 Difference between Civil and Public Service

1.1 Service Structure & Education

1.2 What are their responsibilities?

1.3 Level of Work

1.4 To whom they are Answerable?

1.5 What is the link between Government and Public Servant?

1.6 What type of Facilities they are given?

1.7 Summing up

Difference between Civil and Public Service

Service Structure & Education
What are their major Responsibilities?
Level of Work
To whom Civil and Public Servant are answerable?
What is the link between Government and Public Servant?
What type of facilities they are given
Summing Up

Service Structure & Education

The minimum qualification of a civil servant is graduate. After that, an aspirant has to undergo a competitive examination. This examination is called Central Superior Services (CSS) or Provincial Management Services (PMS). It is compulsory for every aspirant to pass this examination if he wants to be a Civil servant.

When an aspirant becomes successful in this examination, then he is appointed in the BS-17 grade in any of the 12 federal government departments. A civil servant can also be transferred from one department to another department or from one province to another province under the establishment of the federal government. If a civil servant does well in his career since he was hired by the federal government, he would become ahead of the department by getting time to time promotions.

Now let’s talk about Public servant’s service structure and education.

There is no minimum qualification for the Public servant. There is no special CSS or PMS type examination for hiring the Public servant in the government departments. But the Provincial Public Service Commissions conduct such an examination to shortlist the candidates for the different jobs. The Service Commissions held examinations for the different posts between 11 to 16 grades. Every person which is in a government department is a public servant and he cannot be transferred to any other department or province permanently.

Now it’s time to introduce you to some of the responsibilities that Civil and Public servants have.

What are their responsibilities?

Our governments, from the very beginning, lay down various policies and public welfare schemes. The policies and schemes need to be implemented at the ground level. To do this, these civil and public servants are utilized.

Briefly speaking, a civil servant is an officer of the federal government, also called a Bureaucrat, who is in charge of any department to implement these policies at their very end. There are 12 major departments in Pakistan and they are posted in these departments. These 12 Federal departments are listed below:

Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS)
Foreign Services Pakistan (FSP)
Police Services of Pakistan (PSP)
In-land Revenue Services (IRS)
Office Management Group (OMG)
Military Land &Cantonment Group (MLCG)
Pakistan Customs Services (PCS)
Information Group (IG)
Pakistan Audit and Account Services (PAAS)
Commerce & Trade Group (CTG)
Pakistan Postal Group (POSTG)
Railways (Commercial and Transportation) Group (RCTG)

Public servant, on the other hand, works under the subordinate department of these 12 departments and some of the other provincial-based government departments. So, their responsibility is at the provincial level for doing the same work or their subordinate work at their very end. This public servant works at the ground root level for the smooth functioning of all the government departments.

Level of Work

Both civil and public servants work at different levels. Civil servants work inside and outside the country for the federal government. On the other hand, the public servants work inside the country and under the provincial governing administration.

To whom they are Answerable?

Civil and Public servants are, in fact, answerable to the public. But there is a twist in it. They do not directly give answers to the public. Every Civil and Public servant in the first instance gives an answer to its provincial head of department. And that provincial head is answerable to the Federal head of department. That Federal head of department is answerable to the Minister of government who is the head of that department in the National Assembly.

All those Ministers who were elected by the general public through elections are now answerable to the Prime Minister of the Country. And finally, the Prime Minister of the Country is directly answerable to the people of that country. So, in this way, we can say that any civil and public servant is directly answerable to the public.

What is the link between Government and Public Servant?

If we talk about the link between government and those servants then it is so much evident. The main connection between these is to implement the policies and make welfare schemes to upgrade the people’s living standards, eliminate poverty, build healthy nations inside and outside the country.

And for doing these things a government and the civil and public servant should have a clear vision and strong bond. If there is no or broken link between the government and civil servants then there will be a lack of understanding that results in the damaging structure of the country.

So as far as our country is concerned, there is always a strong civil government relation.

What type of Facilities they are given?

As far as facilities are concerned, the Civil servant enjoys more facilities than the public servant. They are paid high salaries. The government offers them houses, cars, drivers, and all the financing is done by the government himself.

A Public servant has no such facilities but a lot of work. Civil servants and the government demands 100% of work capability by proving few facilities. And it is true that the public servant proved more beneficial in implementing the policies and difference schemes at the ground root level. So, a public servant enjoys fewer facilities with low wages, no such service structure but provides good feedback.

Whether you are a civil or public servant, you have your own responsibilities and you also have your good heart so that you can perform your duties with utmost effort.

Summing up

Civil service and public service are services provided by the government to all citizens and to all individuals under the government’s authority. Civil service is executed by the highest capable individuals who have the charge of implementing public policies, providing services to the public, and serving the benefits of the country. Contrariwise, public service is performed by individuals who do not need to be highly qualified and can be done on an unintentional basis.

Civil servants include members of the government, members of various government departments,s and members of delegations and embassies. Public servants include firefighters and police officers, but also volunteers and privates that provide services to the public and to the neediest segments of the community.

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